Awakening to a Special-Grade Explorer

Book 2: Chapter 58

A New Hell Quest

Chapter 58

Tenji was alert to his surroundings, but he kept looking at the floating 'Book of Enma,' checking all the changes caused by the level-up.

There were quite a few pages that had changed. He desperately wanted to note it down on his phone.

However, he had decided to refrain from doing so because Mizue and Rikka were nearby. They did not know about the 'Book of Enma' yet.

[Well, I guess that's about it........ only one level of change, but it's quite a change.]

Tenji thought about that as he sorted through the changes in his head.

The changes that have occurred this time are as follows:

[Name] Tenj Amagi

[Age] 16

[Level] 1/100

[Experience] 116/5000

[H P] 1028 (1012+16)

[M P] 1016 (1000+16)

[Attack Power] 1096 (1080+16)

[Defensive Strength] 1043 (1027+16)

[Speed] 1024 (1008+16)

[Intelligence] 1043 (1027+16)

[Luck] 1045 (1029+16)

[Fixed Small Object Levitation] (Lv.6/10)

[Experience] 4/45

[Calling] Hell Beast Summoning (Lv.1/100)

[Skill] 'Book of Enma'

[Experience] 116/5000

On the status page, there were three significant changes.

• Calling: His level went up from 0 to 1.

• The experience requirement has been increased from 1000 to 5000, a fivefold increase.

• Status values were increasing between 1000 and 1005. The breakdown was: HP: 1002, MP: 1000, Attack: 1000, Defense: 1003, Speed: 1001, Intelligence: 1005, and Luck: 1000.

[The required experience value has increased five times at once....... I wonder if it's because it's an ability related to Hell that the requirements get higher with each level?]

Tenji was involuntarily weak at the mind-boggling status values.

Still, Tenji got himself together and checked out the changes to the following pages.

Now it's time for the magic demon ore conversion page.

[Demon Ore Conversion]

Point: 338

Here he found out the points gained from the fourth-grade monsters.

He was able to convert roughly between 10 and 16 into points. To the 42 points he had before, the magic ore conversion this time increased by 296.

[I'm glad to hear that the points seem easier to get than I thought. It looks like I won't have to bother with points from now on.]

With that in mind, he checked out the following change.

[Hell Realm]

Red Demon species: 2/5

The denominator of the hell realm changed from 2 to 5.

Simply put, Tenji should now be able to use three more monsters. It would also add 75 to his attack power.

Tenji could not do this now because of the presence of other people, but he was determined to verify the change later.

And so he rolled on to the next page.

[Executable Hell Quest]

Quest Name.

[Challenge from the Red Demon -Level.1-]

Condition #1

5,000 squats.

Condition #2

Ten hours of shadowboxing.

[Quest Reward]

Fifth-grade weapon [Red Demon's Dagger]

Fifth-grade item [Red Demon Bangle]

[..... here it comes, a hell quest.]

Tenji observed this page with an inner feeling of trepidation.

This quest differed from his first one, "Meeting the Red Demon."

The quest's name is "Challenge from the Red Demon - Level.1," and the achievement requirements have been reduced to two... However, the number of conditions and time required has increased by about five, which is undoubtedly challenging.

Still, the quest rewards were so enticing that one might be tempted to reach for the quests.

[What's next, a dagger and a...... bangle?]

A bangle is, in essence, a bracelet.

Tenji noticed this and guessed that the Red Demon Bangle might perform similarly to the Red Demon Ring.

It's nice to have an increase in attack power of just 25, but it's still just 25.

"Small drops someday form an ocean," Tenji liked this saying.

[If you keep making small efforts, they will eventually produce significant results. I even feel as if I am being encouraged to do so.]

[Well, maybe I'll do the hell quest once this entrance test is over and after I've recovered my...... body.]

Deciding to do so, Tenji checks the next changed page.

Hell Granny's store

• Oni lanterns that restore physical strength (2 points)

• Oni lanterns that restore mental strength (2 points)

• Natural water from the Sanzu River (2 points)

Hell Granny's store

It was a strange naming, but Tenji was familiar with the contents.

The first time he progressed through the quest in the Hell Realm, Tenji used the Oni Lantern and Natural Sanzhu water to heal himself.

However, the fact that the points required to buy have doubled was a bit of a problem. He has enough points now, so it's not a problem, but he is not sure if he will always have enough points in the future. So, for this reason, he does not want to spend any.

[ I guess I'll leave it alone for the time being? As expected, I'm afraid of losing 6 points at once, in case I need it later. I'll try to use them when I need them.]

Then Tenji slammed the Book of Enma closed.

Other things have changed.

So far, he has found that experience logs are kept for monsters defeated outside of the hell realm and when they level up.

"Phew."

"What's up? Tenji."

Perhaps because he used his head too much, he involuntary sighed. Mizue noticed it. The sigh seemed quite loud, and even Rikka, a little further away, had a worried look.

Tenji hurriedly waves his hands in denial.

"No, it's nothing. I was thinking."

"Okay. You can talk about it if you want?"

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it. It's just a trivial family matter."

Tenji said it was a family matter, not to mention the 'Book of Enma.'

They looked forward again, not digging too deep, "If it's about your family....".

And then suddenly.

"Wait a minute."

"Yeah, It's a monster."

"Yes. Would these footsteps be...... Needlemouse?"

The three of them heard the sound of footsteps coming down the path and got in their fighting position with weapons.

Mizue and Rikka had already seen Tenji fighting, so he took out the Red Demon Sword without hesitation.

Two Needlemice appeared before them.

With their blue eyes staring at them, the NeedleMice came barreling straight at the three without stopping their momentum.

So Mizue stepped forward.

"There are only a few. As I told you beforehand, could you leave just one to me? Tenji."

"Of course. I'll take care of the other one."

Before starting to advance through, Mizue had told Tenji that he wanted to have a chance to fight a few monsters...

He wanted to challenge himself to see how well he could fight against Needlemouse.

Tenji should have stopped him, but he agreed that he had faith in his strength and that he could not refuse Mizue's heartfelt request.

Unfortunately, Rikka had already found out that she couldn't beat Needlemouse and said she would leave the fighting to the two of them.

"Fwiw!"

"Few whiffs!"

Tenji runs from the spot to eliminate the monster.

Instantly, he concentrated all his strength on his body, releasing the maximum benefit of his status.

And then--

In an instant, he reached right in front of NeedleMouse and kicked it in the head.

Needlemouse bounced off the walls and floor like a ball, falling squishy to the ground in the distance. It had blood spilled around, and it could not move much.

It was about organizing the battlefield to make it easier for Mizue to fight. If a one-on-one situation could be created, it would make it easier for Mizue to fight.

"Fwiw!"

Tenji accelerated again and quickly thrust the Red Demon Sword into the neck of the prone NeedleMouse.

As the Needle Mouse began to mineralize, Tenji looked back to Mizue's battle.

"Fwiw!"

"Hey!"

Mizue flexibly used his signature physical abilities to avoid NeedleMouse's flying needle attack.

Some of them seemed to be scraping Mizue's skin and flesh, but Mizue approached NeedleMouse with a look of unconcern on his face.

"Huwie!"

"Huwygh!"

"Huwie!"

NeedleMouse fired three consecutive needle strikes.

"Here!"

Mizue predicted the attack in advance and was waiting for it.

He kicked the nearby wall and evaded all of its attacks by leaping very high into the air.

His physical abilities shouldn't be that different from the average person, but his overly flexible body and strategy outweighed NeedleMouse's attacks.

And so--

"Hey!"

Mizue had struck the Needlemouse's brain with a powerful blow that was topped up with a high leap, gravity, and a series of sword attacks.

Although it didn't cut the monster in half, it was powerful enough to crack it's brain open.

"......fuh......i"

NeedleMouse collapsed right there with a lot of its blood spilling out.

Seeing that, Mizue gave out a hard breath.

"I did it! I can beat the NeedleMouse!"

The way Mizue was excited was a gesture that was appropriate for his age, and it caused Rikka and Tenji to relax a little.

Tenji stowed the Red Demon Sword in the 'Book of Enma' as he walked briskly over to Mizue.

"I didn't expect you to be able to defeat it so easily....... Are you really human?"

Tenji spoke to Mizue with a bit of teasing intent.

However, for some reason, Rikka and Mizue give him the opposite look.

"You don't say!."

"That's right; it's Tenji-Kun who's quite not human. Why are you able to use your calling normally when it should have been sealed in the first place? That is actually not human."

"Uh,..... isn't this the part where I tease Mizue-Kun?"

Tenji's calling was not sealed because the item used to seal it was of lower grade than his calling.

They laughed, amused by Tenji.

The three of them continued to fight the NeedleMouse over and over again, with Tenji as their primary attack force.

Caught up in a random mass shift, they encountered more than a hundred swarms of enemies. With every battle they fought together, their bond grew stronger.

And then--

"...... we're finally there. It's the second boss area."

A door appeared before them once again.